Myself and a group of aspiring journalists have conducted an investigation into the issues surrounding universities, tuition fees and Access Agreements. As Editor, I was responsible to sum up our investigation by writing a concluding article, which can be read below. Our full investigation can be found at www.tuitionfeesandstudentloans.wordpress.com.
University
students missing out on financial support
University
students are missing out on crucial financial support because of poor
communication,
suggests Birmingham City University’s Financial Advisor, Harj Singh.
For
universities to charge students higher tuition fees, an Access Agreement must
be set up. This is a document put together by universities, which include
targets and milestones. The Office for Fair Access (OFFA) then approve and
monitor these documents. Sean Beynon, OFFA Officer, gives a brief overview of
how Access Agreements work:
“Every year, universities publish an Access
Agreement in the summer which covers what the university plans to do within the
upcoming academic year.”
Birmingham
City University have set targets relating to their financial support sector.
The Access Agreement states that the university will promote the initiatives
and support services available to all students.
Whilst
discussing how the financial support services are publicised, Harj Singh
acknowledged the need for further promotion of services and schemes for current
students, briefly skimming over the university’s Access to Learning Fund.
The
Access to Learning Fund is a hardship fund, which means students who are in
need of extra financial support can receive it. However, students must apply
for the funding to be assessed, but making this request is something Birmingham
City University students are finding difficult. This is because many are
completely unaware of the scheme.
Harj
Singh uncomfortably stated:
“Not many students are aware of the
programme.”
A
recent study by The Independent Commission on Fees suggests that this lack of
financial support promotion is deterring working class youngsters, boys in
particular, to apply to university. The number of socio-economically deprived
males taking a place at university fell by 1.4% between 2010 and 2012.
David
Willetts, Universities Minister, stated that the OFFA should be targeting
disadvantaged groups in regards to economic class:
“I don’t see why they couldn’t look at
white, working class boys.”
He went
onto imply that universities should be encouraging socio-economically deprived
individuals to apply, by focussing on them in Access Agreements. It has become
clear that Birmingham City University are failing to take part in this notion.
David
Farrow, Director of Marketing at Aston University, commented on the issue of a
lack of financial support deterring working class applicants. He stated that
the university will be keeping a close eye on the situation. When asked if
Aston University are doing all they can to promote financial support to
socio-economically deprived youngsters, David Farrow said:
“Probably not… I don’t think we do as much
as we feel we could do.”
A
representative from the National Association of Student Money Advisers (NASMA),
Harj Kallu, helps deal with students who have financial problems.
NASMA
is a charity which trains people in supporting and advising university students
in financial strain. The association then sends these trained representatives
into universities, where they put their skills into practice.
Harj
Kallu is based at Birmingham City University and has supported some of their
students who have money issues. He emphasises that:
“There are people really struggling out
there.”
Randel
Brookes, who is studying second year Law, is just one of Birmingham City
University’s students who are worried about finances. He felt disappointed in
the university for not publicising the Access to Learning Fund to continuing
students:
“I had never heard of such a thing before
and by talking to colleagues, neither had they. The thing is I am actually
eligible to apply for this but because I didn’t know, I haven’t.”
Other
Birmingham City University students have significantly suffered because of the
poor communication. Jenna Jarrett is dealing with financial worries while
living away from home. She explained that student life has not been what she expected:
“My mum always told me to be sensible with
money at university and I can honestly say I am, but sometimes there just isn’t
enough financial support.”
The
second year student at Birmingham City University feels like she has not been
provided with enough financial knowledge:
“I have learned a lot through mistakes at
university, but I do think that universities should have equipped us with
better financial knowledge during our first year or before starting
university.”
Jenna
is finding the price of living a constant worry. She maintains her lifestyle by
having a part-time job, just like around 50% of university students across the
UK. She works long hours behind a bar at weekends, which is still not enough to
avoid her overdraft. Jenna is also concerned about her work hours replacing the
time to complete her studying:
“I work at a local club, it is long hours
and sometimes I don’t get back until early hours of the morning. It’s hard to
have this as well as my studies. I find I don’t sleep much because I haven’t
got time due to assignment deadlines. I’m starting to wonder why I’m actually
at university if all I do is work to live.”
Birmingham
City University’s failure to communicate their financial support has had a
negative impact on many of its students. Sean Beynon, OFFA Officer, has spoken
of what action is taken when universities do not meet milestones set in their
Access Agreements:
“If universities do not meet their targets,
we would look to understand why and provide them with challenge and support to
help them to progress.”
-
Abbey Hartley
